Irons Only

[Slab]

Had the chance for an unplanned round at the weekend so decided to tee it forward one box from the comp tees and play ‘irons only’ (it drops the course length by 400y to about 6000y) and while I took FW & Hybrid I wanted to hit 5 Iron (or less) off as many tees/2nd shots as I felt like (ended up I used 3w just once on a long par 5 with virtually zero chance of losing a ball)

2-3 club wind all the way round & I used 5I off the tee 14 times and another 12 times for 2nd, 3rd shots on Par 4’s & 5’s. Never got close to losing a ball all day. With the wind/run it meant the 5I was going anywhere between 120y-180y. The biggest surprise was playing the five Par 5’s in 2 over gross by hitting 12 x 5iron shots from tees/fairway, which I can’t recall ever scoring that well before (& as a short hitting 20 h/cap I think I’d remember that)
Overall the exercise of hitting irons all day worked really well. At my length I’m not sure what would happen off the comp tees/longer course and it might need a couple of hybrids/5w thrown in for carries but it ended up being a lot of fun (& gave me a dam good workout hitting the 5I)

Ever went 'irons only' ?

 

[Orikoru]

Would rather do the exact opposite right now. My iron striking is awful, I seem to do better on holes where I can hit driver, hybrid, chip & putt. There's a reason I don't have many irons in the bag.

 

[SaintHacker]

Been meaning to give this a go for a while. Will be interesting to see the comparisons as my driving is either pga standard or I'm playing my 2nd shot from places no one had even thought of!

 

[Dando]

I would be keen to give this a ago but nothing beats smashing driver....out of bounds

 

[Crow]

I do it sometimes when I'm playing solo rounds with a light carry bag.

 

[patricks148]

used to do it quite a bit when i used to just go out in the evening on my own, just a pencil bag and 2-SW. Also also do just a 6 iron and a putter around the old Tourvean, until i got moaned at by an old dear, because i didn't have a full set

great for ball striking

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Had the chance for an unplanned round at the weekend so decided to tee it forward one box from the comp tees and play ‘irons only’ (it drops the course length by 400y to about 6000y) and while I took FW & Hybrid I wanted to hit 5 Iron (or less) off as many tees/2nd shots as I felt like (ended up I used 3w just once on a long par 5 with virtually zero chance of losing a ball)

2-3 club wind all the way round & I used 5I off the tee 14 times and another 12 times for 2nd, 3rd shots on Par 4’s & 5’s. Never got close to losing a ball all day. With the wind/run it meant the 5I was going anywhere between 120y-180y. The biggest surprise was playing the five Par 5’s in 2 over gross by hitting 12 x 5iron shots from tees/fairway, which I can’t recall ever scoring that well before (& as a short hitting 20 h/cap I think I’d remember that)
Overall the exercise of hitting irons all day worked really well. At my length I’m not sure what would happen off the comp tees/longer course and it might need a couple of hybrids/5w thrown in for carries but it ended up being a lot of fun (& gave me a dam good workout hitting the 5I)

Ever went 'irons only' ?

I did yesterday evening.

I had had such a miserable knock on Saturday that I had to try something different, so I went out for 9 holes playing two balls - and my little pencil bag comprised 5i, 8i, 52* and putter.

I didn't score great but that wasn't the point. I needed to be just hitting irons when it didn't matter at all - especially the 5i - as my ball striking has been dreadful. It was still very variable but it was FUN. And if I can play our par 5 (505yd) 1st - 5i, 5i, 52* and two putts, as I did last night I will keep having fun. It's a game we play for enjoyment and relaxation. I will be repeating whenever I get the chance of an evening to go out this week.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I have a lot to say on this subject.

 

[DeanoMK]

Did something similar the other week, my longest iron is a 5 so mixed it up one round with my hybrid in there and another time with my 5 wood. Only played 9 holes each time but scored extremely well both times.

 

[Sats]

Funny enough I'm planning on doing this on thursday

 

[davidy233]

Did it last week for first time ever, left the woods and hybrids at home, five iron longest club (and most used) - made me think differently, as you say never the slightest chance of being in serious trouble.

 

[nickjdavis]

Had the chance for an unplanned round at the weekend so decided to tee it forward one box from the comp tees and play ‘irons only’ (it drops the course length by 400y to about 6000y) and while I took FW & Hybrid I wanted to hit 5 Iron (or less) off as many tees/2nd shots as I felt like (ended up I used 3w just once on a long par 5 with virtually zero chance of losing a ball)

2-3 club wind all the way round & I used 5I off the tee 14 times and another 12 times for 2nd, 3rd shots on Par 4’s & 5’s. Never got close to losing a ball all day. With the wind/run it meant the 5I was going anywhere between 120y-180y. The biggest surprise was playing the five Par 5’s in 2 over gross by hitting 12 x 5iron shots from tees/fairway, which I can’t recall ever scoring that well before (& as a short hitting 20 h/cap I think I’d remember that)
Overall the exercise of hitting irons all day worked really well. At my length I’m not sure what would happen off the comp tees/longer course and it might need a couple of hybrids/5w thrown in for carries but it ended up being a lot of fun (& gave me a dam good workout hitting the 5I)

Ever went 'irons only' ?

Yep did it the other night.

Played a worse ball scramble with myself using irons only (5 iron longest club) and the proviso that I couldn't play the same club twice in a row (so couldn't play a par 5 by hitting 3 consecutive 5 irons). Worse ball scramble is a tough practice format as you can nail your first shot an know that it counts for nothing unless you can do it again....holes that 6 footer to scramble a par...nope...gotta hole it again for it to count!!! Its a real test of your consistency.

 

[harpo_72]

Used to play holes with a nominated club. The fun one was playing a sand wedge on a par 4 360 yard hole, and watching my friend try to thin his balata ball... that didn’t end so well. I chose after that to play a flat hook ..

 

[Fabia999]

Would rather do the exact opposite right now. My iron striking is awful, I seem to do better on holes where I can hit driver, hybrid, chip & putt. There's a reason I don't have many irons in the bag.

I’m hitting everything okay and I still play most holes like this! Just add another Hybrid and/or chip Haha

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I have a totally different mindset on this (although not to say I've not done it historically) but in my head, if I am practising I want to be working on playing as close to a competitive round as I can so want to be hitting the right club for the shot based on conditions etc. I work hard on my ball striking at the practice ground and the range as I think that is where the technical side is done and then the course is where you learn to play. As I can be erratic off the tee I get to play shots from poor lies anyway.